The markets traded lower during the midday with the Dow losing 25 points to 11,100 as investors digested mixed earnings. Nasdaq eased a point to 2501.
On the upside
Sanofi-aventis will pay approximately $520.6 millin in cash to acquire BMP Sunstone (Nasdaq: BJGP).
China GrenTech (Nasdaq: GRRF) secured a contract to provide equipment and integration services for China Broadcasting Corp.'s China Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting project.
Carlyle Group will take Syniverse Holdings (NYSE: SVR) private in a deal valued at approximately $2.6 billion.
On the downside
RBC Capital analyst Mark Sue downgraded JDS Uniphase (Nasdaq: JDSU), lowered his price target on the stock and trimmed his earnings outlook citing slowing growth.
Entropic Communications (Nasdaq: ENTR) reversed year ago losses for the third quarter but revenue fell short of anlayst expectations.
While third quarter earnings for Skechers (NYSE: SKX) rose, the results fell short of expectations and the company warned of increased inventories of its popular toning shoes.
In the broad market, declining issues barely edged out advancers by a slim margin on the NYSE while decliners outpaced advancers by more than 7 to 5 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks slipped 3 points to 700.